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What we have here is not "failure to communicate" but seemingly a 1980s, musical/space themed mashup slot, boasting a rather funky 80's soundtrack and a main character taken straight out of a Prince video of the era (Lyra), as well as a strange mutant, rock-creature who doesn't appear on the reels until a bonus is triggered (Erion).

Also speaking of reels, there aren't any, nor are their pay lines, instead what you have is a honeycomb layout of 22 spaces, each of which can change into one of the symbols on the slot and wins come by means of the same symbol being clustered together, the more symbols clustered the bigger the win.

Spins start at just 0.10 per spin however, which is pleasing and you can wager up to a maximum of 10.00 per spin, so it isn't a game likely to appeal to the real high-rollers but it should still attract the vast majority of slot players.

Overview

Game: Astro Legends: Lyra and Erion

Developer: Foxium (for Microgaming)

Reels: N/A

Pay Lines: N/A

Minimum Bet: 0.10

Maximum Bet: 10.00

Jackpot: 15,000x

Free Spins Bonus: No

Other Bonuses: Yes

Progressive: No

Volatility: Medium to High

Presentation

The presentation of the Astro Legends: Lyra and Erion slot is very nicely done. The backdrop is a space theme, with a futuristic city in the distance and above it is a large moon or planet covered partially by billowing clouds. At the forefront of the screen is Lyra, she's the lady with the pink hair, spandex outfit and playing a "keytar" (a keyboard set up to resemble a guitar).

On the right is a seemingly empty space where light and bubbles of some form emanate. This is where the other Astro Legend, Erion will appear at various times in the game, as we shall find out later in the review.

The actual symbols are displayed in an almost diamond-like shape in the middle of the two characters and there's 22 spaces available. The boxes are interlinked next to one another and wins are paid by landing adjacent clusters of symbols comprising of five or more of the same symbol. The more symbols in a cluster, the greater the value of the win.

A rather funky 1980s soundtrack plays along as you 'spin' and in truth this is a rather neat little foot-tapper and serves as the perfect audio backdrop for the slot.

What is on the reels?

There are just six different symbols in the game, the three lower value symbols are the Ace, King and Queen symbols, with the latter being the lowest value. Higher value symbols are the four gems in their raw state and these are, in order of increasing value, Peridot, Amethyst and Garnet.

You need to land a cluster of five symbols or more to land a win in the game and the more symbols in your cluster (up to a maximum of 22), then the greater the value of your win.

Three of the 22 spaces on the layout are the Red Cells. These cells can be used to trigger some of the key bonus features in the game as we shall explore below.

Wild features

There is one symbol in the game that serves as a Multiplier Wild. This symbol can only appear in the three Red Cells in the game and when it does, it can substitute for any of the symbols nearby to form part of a win.

When a Wild is used in this way, it also generates a random multiplier for that win, which can be as low as 2x the standard win or as high as 5x the standard win. Furthermore, if you manage to land more than one multiplier Wild during a spin, then the values of the Wilds landed as multipliers are added together to increase the overall value of the wins.

Free Spins features

There are no Free Spins feature on the Astro Legends: Lyra and Erion slot, but there are a couple of other bonus features in place on the game which offer similar action.

The first and potentially most lucrative of these is the Sonic Re-spin bonus. This occurs at random in the game when you land a winning cluster on a spin, or if you land multiple clusters on the reels and all clusters are made up of the same symbol.

When this bonus occurs Erion will appear from his hidey-hole and Lyra will move closer to the reels. All the winning symbols are held in position and then you get a free re-spin, which can add more of the symbols onto the other spaces on the reels, or create another cluster win elsewhere on the reels of the same symbol.

When you add a symbol to an existing cluster, or generate a new cluster, these are also held and then another re-spin is played. You keep re-spinning until you do not generate another symbol or cluster, or you fill the reels completely with your chosen symbol.

The other bonus to look out for is the Lyra Spirit Bonus and this is triggered by collecting Stardust Bubbles. These can appear anywhere on the reels, but they appear on top of an existing symbol, rather than replacing it. When the bubble is burst by Lyra, she receives some points added to her Stardust Collection.

Once she has collected 100 points, then Lyra will transform into a wolf and the Lyra Spirit Bonus commences.

In this bonus, the wolf starts with three lives and the player can play through up to seven levels of action. On each level, the player chooses one of three paths. The wolf collects gems on the path but must be aware of Erion, who will hit one of the paths on the first three levels and then two of the paths from levels four to seven.

If a path is hit by Erion, then the wolf loses a life. The bonus continues until the wolf loses all three lives, or completes all seven levels, collecting all the gems. The more gems you collect in the bonus, the greater the value of your win. Furthermore, if you complete all seven levels and have any lives remaining, each life left will see you win a further 20x your stake payout.

Best feature of the Astro Legends: Lyra and Erion slot

There's no doubt that the Astro Legends: Lyra and Erion slot looks and plays differently to other slot games, but for me the best feature of the slot is the Sonic Re-spin bonus. It may not be as difficult to trigger as the Lyra Spirit bonus, but the potential to turn all of the 22 spaces on the screen to the same symbol means that thee are some massive wins available in this bonus feature, especially if you can trigger it with one of the higher value gemstone symbols.

Conclusion

This is an innovative new game from Foxium on behalf of Microgaming, and it is a fun and enjoyable game to play, it is similar enough to a slot to keep slot purists happy, but also has enough different features to make it feel more like a social game that you would find on social media. This is a happy combination, especially when you add the three main bonus features into the mix, all of which can see you land some sizeable wins.